


What Happens After

by onlytrueandfalse



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Next Generation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-18
Updated: 2014-05-12
Packaged: 2018-01-19 19:56:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1482007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlytrueandfalse/pseuds/onlytrueandfalse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years after the Avengers saved the world time and time again, the world is safe, or so it seems. Once there's an increase in super villainy the world turns to a new group to save them. However, turning to the teenage children of the original Avengers may have been a serious mistake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at a story in general and I hope this one isn't entirely awful.

Betty Virginia Stark-Banner trotted down the stairs; the closer she got to the lab the louder the music got, much to the annoyance of everyone within a 5 floor radius in Stark Tower. Before she called attention to herself she examined her appearance in the glass divider. Her brown eyes were big and tired, while her hair, which she kept short out of preference, was sticking out in eight different directions from sleep. Her olive skin looked sunken around her eyes which were hidden behind the thick black frames of her glasses.

She banged on the door furiously. Her dad, Tony Stark, lifted off his welding face mask to look up at her standing in his window in her pajamas. Prying himself away from his latest project, he turned down the music and opened the door.

"Need I remind you it's 2 in the morning," she says entering the room, "Also for the love of god you look awful. If you don't get sleep before dad wakes up he'll totally kill you."

The other father she was referring to was Dr. Bruce Banner. Her two genius fathers had met and fallen in love doing super classified work for the now nonexistent government agency SHIELD. At some point about 16 years ago they had gotten married and adopted her.

"How long have I been down here?" Her dad asks. She looks at the clock and opening her mouth to answer but JARVIS beats her to it.

"Twenty hours and counting, sir," the AI says matter of factly. Betty shakes her head at her father.

"Dude dad is gonna murder you. Also I resent the fact that you people won't give me an access code for down here, I'm practically an adult and if you give me that line about safety again I will remind you that you blew up the kitchen last week with an experimental toaster," she say.

The toaster in question was supposed to determine what kind of toast to make according on the user. This project had stemmed from a heated debate about making sure the toaster didn't burn toast because the dial on the side was miraculously put on 10, Tony's preferred setting, whenever Bruce tried to use the machine.

She started dragging his arm and he followed her blindly out of the lab and up into the kitchen. She sat him down at the counter and began searching the fridge.

"I'm gonna judge by the six candy bars I saw in the lab that you haven't eaten an actual meal in some time. I can't exactly cook right now without disturbing everyone so I will make you some cheerios and then send you to bed," she says pulling down a bowl from the cabinets. She pours the heart healthy cereal inside and then fills it with milk.

"I don't know why your dad makes me eat this," Tony says, "it's not really benefiting my heart in any way." He taps at the arc reactor for emphasis. Just as Tony is finishing his bowl of cereal there's a knock at the door.

"There's an Agent Coulson-Barton here to see you Betty," chimes JARVIS.

"I don't know any Agent Coulson-Bartons," Betty says, confused.

"I do," says her father as he sprints through the house to wake his husband.

Moments later her fathers come rushing into the room. Bruce looks absolutely exhausted and his curly hair is sticking out in a million different directions.

"Before we let this man in," Bruce says nervously, "We need you to know that there's a part of our life we've never told you about, your father and I, now keep in mind this was a long time ago before we had you..."

"Oh cut to the chase," Tony says annoyed, "Me and your dad were superheroes and we saved the world a couple times and we were bad ass and I was Iron Man and he was the Hulk and we were awesome, but we left all that behind when we had you, not that we resent you for it or anything. That's just how things work."

"That seems like a conversation for not right now, even though I'm not quite sure why you didn't tell me this sooner, and what does that even have to do with the guy at the door?" Betty asks, completely confused. Bruce walks up to the door and opens it, Betty peaks around the corner and watches, him and the agent have a hurried hushed conversation. Finally, her dad moves aside and the man comes in. He strides right up to her.

"Betty Stark-Banner, I'm here to talk to you about resurrecting a dead government operation."


	2. Chapter 1: One and a Half Years Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured I should keep trying with this, just to see how it goes. This is my first ever attempt at a long chapter.

James Buchanan Rogers, or Bucky as he was most commonly known was on his way home from school laughing at something his best friend Nicholas Paul Wilson, or Nick was saying about some movie they had watched last night. They were complete and total movie nerds, which contrasted greatly with their appearance. 

Bucky had dark curly hair and pale skin, both of which he got from his mother, Darcy Rogers sans Lewis, and an insane amount of muscle which he got from his father, Steve Rogers. The muscle had come out of no where one day when he was 14, he always joked to the people that commented that he went to sleep one day and woke up the next a body builder. Nick on the other hand had the constant tan skin of a child with a white mother and African American father. His dark hair was cropped short and he had enough muscle to reasonably compete with Bucky however this was because of an intensive daily workout regimen. 

They walk down the street casually joking to each other about things only the other would understand. They finally make it to Nick’s house and say their goodbyes. Bucky keeps walking, his house is only a few blocks away and he was comfortable with the walk as him and Nick had been friends since their first day of kindergarten. Now as seniors in high school they’d been practically inseparable for 13 years. 

Bucky made his way to the house, relaxing into the cool breeze of the perfect spring day. Rounding the corner onto his street, he noticed an unrecognizable ominous black vehicle parked on the street in front of his house. Suddenly overwhelmed with nervousness, he walked down the street to his house just a little bit faster. 

His house was small and old, painted multiple bright colors throughout his life at his mom insistence. Every few years or so his mom decided that the house absolutely needed to be lime green or pink or rainbow, and every time his dad put on his jeans and an old stained army t-shirt and went off to the paint store to pick up whatever ridiculous color she wanted. The small two story was currently painted a soft yellow. 

Approaching the porch, the house appeared the same as it always was with the exception of an unknown figure on the porch. She was wearing a pink dress with black heels, she looked rather adorable and like she couldn’t belong to the ominous black vehicle parked on the street. Her back was to him and she appeared to be giving herself a small pep talk under her breath. 

“You can do this, you went through all the training and the world is depending on you right now. You’re gonna rock this,” she was saying to herself softly.

“Hello?” James say tentatively, walking up the few steps that lead to the porch, “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“Oh god you’re so polite! Christ I almost feel bad potentially ruining your life, wait you’re James Rogers, correct?” She asks. He nods.   
“I go by Bucky,” he says, unlocking the door and letting her inside. She’s carrying a folder with large letter on the outside labeling it classified, he just noticed it now but she’d had it the whole time they’d been outside. 

“I’m Betty Stark-Banner, and I’m here as a representative of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, or SHIELD,” she says, almost as though she’d practiced the line beforehand, following him into the kitchen and sitting across from him at the kitchen table. 

“Is that the government?” he asks, “Would you like something to eat or drink?”

“Again with the manners, no thank you I’m alright and yes that is the government.”

“What does the government want with an 18 year old movie nerd from just outside New York City?”

“I’m glad you asked,” she says, flashing him a brilliant smile that he’d remember forever. She opens you her classified file, pulling out papers and sorting them out in organized stacks in front of her. 

“How much do you know about your father and your mother and how they met?” she asks, making eye contact with him. The seriousness behind her eyes catches him off guard. 

“They met in college, my mom worked for an astrophysicist and my dad had just started after he left the army. They dated through college and got married a few years after they graduated,” he says, trying to remember anymore details and realizing his parents really never did talk about it. 

“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but everything your parents have told you about their lives before they had you was a lie.” He shakes his head at her, he knows she’s lying. 

“I wouldn’t believe it if someone told me that about my parents either, and I’m not just telling you to tell you. The world needs you.” She pulls out three photographs and a document from the stacks she created in front of her. She lays them out one by one in front of him. She points at the first photo, it’s of a man that almost resembles his father except scrawny and short. He’s amazed by how small he looks in general. 

“That is your father,” she says, “in 1942. I know that may be hard to believe but I swear to you that I’m presenting this all to you with absolute honesty.” She moves on to the next thing, the document, “This is the only existing copy of your father’s birth certificate. Steven Grant Rogers born July 4, 1920.” 

She hands him the birth certificate and he examines it, it appears to be official and looks like every other birth certificate he’s ever seen just with classified stamped on it in dark red letters in the center. 

"This is impossible!" he says with disbelief. She nods in agreement.

"Trust me, if I were in your position I'd feel the same way," she says handing him the next picture, "this is your father in 1944."

The picture was ridiculous in contrast to the last one. It was his father as he is now, tall and muscular. He still wasn't sure he believed that the first picture was his father and he really wasn't sure he believed these pictures were from the 40's. She pulls out the final picture, it's his dad covered in ice dressed in the most patriotic outfit he'd ever seen.

"This is your dad in the early 2010's when they found him," she says, "I know you may not believe me but I'm telling you the truth your dad was and always will be Captain America. The whole truth of the matter is that your dad is something close to 100 years old."

They sit in silence, staring at each other. Bucky examines the pictures, they look real. He knows she's probably telling the truth, even though every part of him wishes it wasn't.

"How do I know I can believe all this?" 

"Let's just say, 'When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'"

He looks her in the eyes. The only thought he can muster is that her eyes seem honest, so does everything about her. She doesn't seem like a government representative, she's wearing a sundress and everything about her seems so soft and kind. He wishes that she was easier to hate or believe to be a liar.

"What does this have to do with me?" He asks.

"Your father was part of an experiment, it was World War II and America felt this need to have the perfect soldier. This led to your father. The serum they gave him, we believe it was passed down to you. In fact we know it was. You didn't always look like this," she says, gesturing at him and waving her hand at his torso. 

Bucky nods. He remembers when the muscle and strength and stamina all came in, to him it felt like his body changed overnight, to the point that it worried him. He expressed these concerns to his parents. He remembers his dad looking absolutely devastated and walking out. His mom had told him it was because their little boy was growing up, he knew the truth now.

"Why are you coming to me with this now?" He asks. 

"Your dad saved the planet time and time again, he was part of a revolutionary SHIELD initiative known as the Avengers. He ran the team and everyone knew Steve Rogers saved the world," she says.

"Then why didn't I know?"

"He retired when you were born, and part of that retirement was that his name was wiped from everything, the Internet, movies, books, you name it, it's gone. He did it to protect you because at the time the world was under the belief that they were safe."

"What about now?"

"Things have changed, I'm here because I'm supposed to assemble a team that's not unlike your father's and SHIELD believes that you were made to be an asset on this team." 

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"I'm not sure, I'm just as unsure about this project as you. I have my orders and that's all. I'd love to tell you more but I really can't."

She reassembles the file, making sure to put it's contents in a specific order. She hands him a thick stack of paperwork. On the cover page is “SHIELD” written in bold letters and a logo that resembles some kind of bird. 

“Well I guess that’s my recruitment speech. Let me know what you decide. I’m gonna leave all of this with you,” she says, handing him the file and a business card. He nods.

“I’ll walk you to out,” he says. They stand and she follows him to the door, he holds it open for her. 

“You said SHIELD believes I was made to be an asset to this team. What do you believe about me?”

“I believe you were meant for better things than you believe you are,” she says, leaving him to think about everything she told him.


	3. Chapter 2: Joining the Team

Betty threw herself down violently on the couch. She kicked off her shoes at the wall, they hit the middle and fell to the ground with a resounding thud. She let out a groan of frustration about her day. 

Her day had been awful, it was her first official day without an agent overseeing her every move, and as far as days go it had been one for the books. She’d gotten lost on the way to her small cubicle only to find that she had been moved in front of the office of Agent Coulson-Barton. He was feared by a majority of everyone working in SHIELD. By the time she had gotten settled in she was behind on paperwork and late for a meeting on appropriate recruiting strategies. She was forced to attend this meeting despite the fact that recruiting for the Avengers Initiative 2.0 began the minute she met James. 

He’d been a lot different than she’d expected. He hadn’t looked like his father in the slightest, except for the muscle. The fresh from a test tube look had been a gift from his father, and she thought he carried it all well. She also found him handsome beyond belief. She’d met plenty of people in her life, and lots of guys at that. She’d never been intrigued by anyone else, but there’d been something about this handsome stranger that made her want to know more. These feelings were extremely against SHIELD policy. 

She was still waiting on his call, if it ever came. 

She’d ended up thinking about him the whole of the meeting, how innocent and happy he seemed and how she single handedly had probably ruined that. The fact that she found him beyond attractive did not help this guilt, potentially ruining someone’s life was not a good way to start a crush. By the time she rejoined the meeting, it was practically over and any potentially useful information for her exploits was missed or forgotten. 

On the way back to her cubicle, she had bumped into a field agent in training. He proceeded to ask her for coffee and call her intern. In retrospect she understood where he was coming from. That day she had been wearing jeans, a Star Wars t shirt, and a cardigan. She technically shouldn’t be wearing them. However once she had closer inspected the dress code she realized that dressing how she normally dressed would be within that as, “Dress in a way that would prevent notice from an innocent bystander on the street”. She’d finally realized the joy of being seventeen and a half. 

She was still however furious at the gall of the nonofficial agent. He was probably still within his first month there. This however did not stop her from accosting him in front of his other trainees and flashing her level 5 clearance badge. Her accosting soon took a turn for the worse as she ranted from “how dare you disrespect me like that I could get you stationed in Siberia” to “who the actual fuck refers to other human beings in such a disrespectful manner”. She’d been raised around interns, her dads scienced near constantly. 

Realizing what an ass of herself she made, she returned to her desk blushing. She proceeded to not entirely finish what she needed to accomplish for the day, but part of her deal with her dads was that she’d at max work 8 hours a day while she was waiting on being 18. She’d graduated early and finished high school while she was training at SHIELD. Now she was just waiting to be 18 so she could work late and actually accomplish decent amounts of work. 

Another day ruiner was the fact that a trainee kept dropping slips of paper and documents on her desk to display their qualifications and why they’d be an asset to the new Avengers. This didn’t cease and when she’d slammed her head down on her desk after something like the fifteenth note, Agent Coulson Barton chose this convenient moment to come out and check on her. 

“Ms. Stark-Banner,” he said coolly. She sat up immediately, large block of yellow covering her left eye. Removing the post it note, she looked up at him. 

“Yes, sir?” she asked.

“How are you holding up?”

“Fine, I think,” she said nervously.

“Now really how are you holding up?”

“I got lost this morning only to find I’d been moved here, was late to a meeting, was referred to as intern and asked to get a trainee coffee who I proceeded to accost, and I keep finding these stupid notes with qualifications and requests to join my team which hasn’t even officially been announced yet by a new recruit and I’m wondering whether not you made a huge mistake by recruiting me,” she hadn’t intended to tell him everything, but he looked so sympathetic and she dumped her dumb emotions and nerves on him. He looked like he cared until she mentioned the notes, then he just looked angry. He gently took the note that she pulled off her face and examined it for nothing longer than a second when he stormed off. 

That had been the end to her royally bad day. Which left her here, at home kicking her shoes at the wall and debating if trying to save the world was a good idea. Her dad walks in and sits at her feet on the couch. 

He'd always had a sixth sense for these things. Even when she was a kid. Everytime anything ever bothered her he'd magically appear with a solution or a hug or something to make her day better. Her other dad on the other hand was entirely oblivious to her emotions in the most stereotypical dad way imaginable, he’d once casually walked past her crying with nothing but a call that he’d be in the garage. 

“Wanna talk about it?” he asks. 

“When did saving the world become so unglamourous?”

“I don’t think the man that used to find himself publicly indecent after every mission is the right guy to ask.”

“Other dad said it was all just big entrances and heavy metal and kicking ass and falling in love.”

“Well other dad is one for grand gestures and the falling in love thing was very much not involved with saving the world.”

“It’s just that this is infinitely harder than I expected and I’m technically not supposed to say this but Captain America 2.0 has definitely not called me back.”

“Give him time I’m pretty confident no one could resist joining your initiative,” he say, making a direct gesture at her Star Wars t shirt. She laughs. He laughs with her. The small joke almost made her feel better about her god awful horrible no good very bad day. Just as the room quieted down into a comfortable silence there was a very loud and fiery explosion from the kitchen. Her dad jumped up and was running into the other room quickly. She knew other dad was responsible but she got up to check.

“God dammit Tony! If this was another toaster I swear to god…..” was all she heard as she fled to her room, this was not her mess and other dad was totally not about to guilt her into helping. Just as she made it into her room her phone rang, not just any phone her special SHIELD issue Starkphone. She whipped it out of her back pocket and was very happy to see that it was an unknown number. She may or may not have almost peed herself from nerves and excitement. 

“Hello?” she questioned, her voice sounded very tentative and very unagent like. 

“Hello? Is this Miss Stark-Banner? This is Bucky Rogers?”

“Oh god hi!”

“Ummm yes hi.”

“Are you calling to reject my offer? Because if yes, I’d like the opportunity to talk about why?” she asked. She really didn’t need this right now, the idea of sucking at her job that much mildly upset her. 

“I’m just looking at the large packet you gave me and I had some questions to ask before I made my decision?’

“Well okay, ask away!” This was weirdly not what she expected and it definitely wasn’t a rejection and that was a definite relief.

“Anyway so I was wondering about the policy on interdimensional relations because that seems kind of….” Just as he was mid way through his question there was a very very large explosion from down the hall. You’ve got to be kidding me, she thought to herself. Second explosions were never ever good

“Sorry to cut you off I just have to go check on something, I think it’s just yeah I don’t know my dads are being weird! Just give me a minute!” She was jogging down the hall now, she was frantically stabbing at the mute button hoping she could appropriately accost whoever was responsible.

“What the actual fuck, you guys? I’m on the phone for work!” she asked walking into the kitchen. Her dad was fighting a small fire with the extinguisher and other dad had lost an eyebrow. 

“Who are you on the phone with?” other dad asked and the exact same moment her dad had asked, “Are they listening to us talk right now?”

“Captain America Jr. so now if you could stop being complete spazes for like 10 minutes so I can convince him to help me save the world and maintain an agent like persona that’d be great! Also I muted him.”

“I hate to break this to you but mute works the opposite way, we can’t hear him but he can hear you,” her dad says. 

Oh god, she thought, this may have gone from a shit day at work to like the worst day of her life real quick. She ran back to her room and tried to hide the fact that she was blushing harder than she ever had before. She un-muted the phone. 

“Let me formally apologize for the fact that you heard all that and on behalf of my parents who are doing a fine job of being the worst people ever right now and I hope this does not change your opinion on joining the initiative,” she says quickly, hoping he hadn’t just hung up. 

“You still live with your parents?” he asked. 

“I’m only 17 and a half, so yeah.”

“Really?” 

“Yep, anyway I wouldn’t really pay attention to the fine print on this I promise that you’d only do things within your comfort zone and you’d work pretty much exclusively with me and my boss, and you probably wouldn’t need to worry about the very detailed stuff. You’d just be dealing with stuff beyond the ability of a normal human. You’d pretty much be a secret weapon.”

“Oh that doesn’t seem to bad.”

“I mean obviously you’d have to get trained on everything but you’d only deal with like threats to the planet, I promise I won’t drag you into routine day to day stuff like your dad got stuck doing. You could work for SHIELD just like you’d do desk stuff and train and stuff most of the time I believe, unless you wanted to run ops on the day to day like the other field agents.”

“Well that is a relief, I guess.”

“So if those are all your questions I will let you go so you can make a decision. Just….” He cuts her off. 

“I’ll do it.” She can’t contain the sigh of relief that escapes her lips, maybe she was a little bit cut out for this.


End file.
